Obesity in Boys Up 29 Percent | Care2 Causes

The prevalence of obesity has leveled off in the past decade in the US after nearly doubling in the previous two decades, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week. This is good news but not exactly great: One-third of adults — more than 78 million people — in the US are obese, up from 30.5 percent in 1999. Unfortunately, the obesity rate among boys aged 6 to 19 is up 29 percent. Some 12.5 million children — nearly 1 in 3 — are now obese. Health insurers and employers are now required to pay for the cost of screening children for obesity and providing “appropriate counseling,” though medical professionals are just beginning to explore treatments and programs that might help children not only lose weight, but learn to keep it off, the New York Times reports. Researchers interviewed by Bloomberg underscore that obesity is a problem which is better prev...